It has been some time since I have written anything. Work has taken over a lot of time, when it seems that most of the work I have been involving myself in, has been a total time waster. Having no choice but to face the reality I keep working towards the things that I would rather delegate and forget. Today when my daughter suddenly came up with this, we are learning to write a blog in school, I suddenly remembered that she didn’t even know that her dad was a vetted blogger and a writer for a lot more places online. Well at least that was the case a few years back.

Telling her that she had a most experienced tutor at home on this subject and could learn anything from blogger and WordPress to creating a custom self hosted blog with a fancy domain name from me. The Jargon suddenly took the toll finally I had to give in to the pressure of beginner’s queries. However, this did remind me that it has been quite some time since I had punched a few words of my own words into HIKMAH. I suddenly remembered that, hikmah has not just been a blog for me but it has been a note to pave way for my own growth which I have seemed to have lost track off just being involved in too much rut work.

Back to the learning process, where I am trying to polish and upgrade my speaking skills with several books and video presentations, especially those of Julian Treasure, I find that before I need to upgrade the speech there is a more profound need to enhance my skills of deliberate listening. Here is where all the acoustics stuff comes in and hence the blog post that I do intend to continue if time permits from the daily chores of life.

The best place to start of for anyone who is interested in the field of listening and speaking, and how acoustics plays an important role in learning entirely needs to follow some TedTalks of Julian Treasure as well as other speakers on the subject.

It is also a time to know the importance of learning to ask the right question. Its everyone’s dream to come and see Jamea;

Ek Aas Lagaye Betha Hon.
Ek Bar bas “Jamea” Dekhun Main.

Surat Ki ye ilmi fizaon Main.
Ek Bar To Jeena Dekhun Main.

Pyasa Hun Aab-e-Kousar Ka.
Ek Bar To Peena Dekhun Main.

Phir Chahe Hosh Gawa Bethon.
Bus Ek Baar “Ye Imtihaan” Dekhun Mein.

In Al Jamea, learning and education usually focus on providing answers, not on the questions themselves.
The most significant informations come from asking interesting questions.

The right questions will lead a talabat to knowledge that extends well beyond the frontier of what he previously knew. The better the questions, the more extensive the explorations and the more profound the discoveries.

Questions come in so many hues and colour. Like, what makes you wonder about the universe and the whole creation? Who do you want to become? What questions do you have about Islam? Questions about its ethics and etiquette, its fiqeh and adab, its history and philosophy, architecture and urbanization, as well as Islamic economics and commerce or anything else? You can also ask whether intelligent talabat also learn vocational courses in Jamea, like first aid, culinary art. Do they visit gyms and sports’ fields and swimming pools regularly in Jamea.

There are questions relating to Fine Arts, and art of speaking and whether great languages could be integrated into a major syllabus.
Today there are magnificent works of inspiring art placed across the campus; in Ewan al Barkaat, in al Masjid al Fatemi, in Mahad al Zahra. In fact there are displays of art and photographs all around.
This month; Rajab al Asab is the miqaat of al Imtehan al Sanawi in al-Jamea. The. 20th of Rajab is the day when Al Jamea extends an invitation to all Mumineen to come to discover what Jamea stands for. With more than 50 programs and hands-on experiences that showcase all of the amazing research and scholarship happening in the world, there are activities, exhibits, lectures, asbaaq and workshops appropriate for Mumineen of all ages.

Al Jamea tus Saifiyah provides the world’s excellent system of learning and examination, with the perfect environment. For instance, there are information about the history of Al Jame Anwar, in Al Moezziyat al Qahera, and about the activities and history of Al Jamea tus Saifiyah etc. When you finish exploring all of these and other related questions, you will have explored those avenues in learning and experience that were little known to you before.

These amazing activities and achievements during al Imtehan have changed our world. The Arabic academies, Al Jamea tus Saifiyah, across the globe have also been built to explore more personal questions that students everywhere in colleges and schools ask: like, Who do I want to be? How can I become that person? How much is there to learn?

In the mausam al Imtehan, Mumineen come learn about these and other questions as they broaden their horizons and imagination about the concept of ilm Ale Mohammed SAW
and about Khidmat of our Maulana Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS and the Khidmat of Dawat. The better the individual questions, the better the odds they will be able to realize all of their dreams and ambitions. And that makes such personal questions the most important of all.

The best learning happens when we ask the best questions. Al Jamea tus Saifiyah is a world-class university that is specifically built to help Mumineen, especially Abnaul Jamea explore their most significant questions of Deen, and the challenges they face in this ever changing world infested with media and technology. Al Jamea on this occasion of al Imtehan al Sanawi, (the annual examination season), opens its doors for you, come and explore your questions because you never know what may change the world and how these changes will influence your thinking and ultimately will impact your life.

In order to make effective financial decisions, it is important to know and keep track of your income and expenses. With skyrocketing inflation, meeting day-to-day needs and being prepared for unexpected emergencies, is getting trickier day by day. A personal or household budget, even at its most basic, is one of the best tools you can utilize to better managing your money.

Importance of a Budget

A budget is a plan of how you are going to spend your estimated total income before you spend it!

Money, like any other resource, needs planning and preparation. When you actually put your expenses and your incomes down on paper with some kind of plan, then that is when you can really figure out how healthy your finances are and whether certain changes need to be made or not.

As an estimation, a budget is a tool that allows you to think carefully about how you income will be divided among necessary living expenses, savings and investment during a certain period.

What information does the budget give you?

Different types of income sources

Amount of income by source

Total planned income

Types of expenditure, including business and household expenses

Total planned expenditures

Total savings

How to Make a Budget

A household budget can take on many different styles and shapes depending on who you are and what you need your budget to be capable of achieving.

The three key steps of a budget as follows:

STEP ONE: Estimate the amount of regular and irregular income per month.

STEP TWO: Divide your income among the following:

All anticipated expenses and amount needed for each expense.

Amount required for repayment of loans, if any.

How much you want to save to meet short-term or long-term goals

STEP THREE: Calculate whether your estimated total income is enough to cover total spending.

If income exceeds expenditure, you have a budget surplus. You should save this surplus income to spend during times when income might be lesser or expenditure will exceed expected expenses.

If expenditures exceed income, you have a budget deficit. The idea is to prepare yourself for these months using your financial plan. Another thing which might help is to spend less during the low-income periods.

Staying Within your Budget

Making a budget is a simple task but following ones budget and sticking to it, takes discipline! You must respect each part of the budget, from establishing financial goals, to controlling your spending, to honoring your commitment to save. The following tips tackle most common issues people have with staying within their budgets.

Issue 1: Irregular income per month

Ask yourself: what time of the year do you have a little more money? When are you short of money?

Use a calendar you can see that income and expenditures vary depending on seasons, activities, religious and social events as well as life events (for e.g. births or deaths). This calendar can be used as a tool to estimate income and expenditure trends while making a budget.

In order to better manage your money, at the beginning of each month you can allocate an amount for each of these envelopes and then divide their money between these. It is not important for savings to be in thousands. A little amount is also a contribution towards short term or long-term savings goals.

This is a great way to keep savings separate and out of reach, so that it is not spent and keep track of your spending.

Issue 3: Expenditure Exceeds Income

See if any of the following can be applied by adapting it to your lifestyle or skill-set:

Ways in which a household can earn more money

Ways in household can spend less money

1. For farming communities, a change in crop cultivation may be suggested. The idea being that faster selling vegetables would increase household income

2. Utilizing skills that the entire household has: have you considered encouraging your son/daughter to babysit or offer tuitions for the children in your neighborhood? Perhaps your wife or you can utilise their writing skills to work part-time for an NGO?

3.Ask for a pay rise at your current job. People are often scared to do this, yet why not simply ask – the worst that can happen is they say ‘no’. Simply ask for an appointment, prepare your points – which should be more about your job role than ‘I need the money’ – and see what happens. It’s just as difficult for an employer to say no when you ask, as it is for you to ask in the first place

1. Buy household items in wholesale in one go instead of on credit

2. Plan ahead to buy necessities when the prices are lower

3. Get second-hand books from other students

4. Start a kitchen gardening for own consumption

5. Recruit everyone in the house to spend less money on household utilities

6. Be creative when planning outings: picnics at the beach or one of the many parks in the country which are getting cleaner, with home-cooked food or sandwiches are a great and inexpensive way to spend time with the family

7. Carry less money or save money in a safe place (thereby avoid temptation to spend)

Keeping Records

The tracking of your financial transactions is helpful for managing your money. You can always refer to the recorded information to check past transactions as well as to inform future planning.

Knowledge is like water. The purest gives life and the contaminated brings death. I believe in serving the community being a part of it. My community has a history of cultural legacy. The Dawoodi Bohras are the Shiate Ismaili Fatemi Tayyebi Daudi sect of Islam. Long Live Aqamola 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS) successor of His Holiness Dr Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA).

Not all posts on this blog are my own words. Nor are all articles
written by me. The blog is intended serve as my journal and dairy of interesting
reading I have enjoyed and want to share. Some write-ups do not have the name of its
author, the reason behind it is that I do not know the original source nor the author. If
someone knows it they can add it to the comment box.